


Friendly Comforts

by ElisaPhoenix



Series: Supreme Family Chaos [118]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Board Games, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Mama Bear Stephen Strange, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:55:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26418322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/pseuds/ElisaPhoenix
Summary: Cassie and William spend the day together at the lake house and have a somewhat deep conversation.
Relationships: Billy Kaplan & Cassie Lang, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Supreme Family Chaos [118]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1364899
Comments: 7
Kudos: 114





	Friendly Comforts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [funkylittlebidiot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/funkylittlebidiot/gifts).



> For funkylittlebidiot for reaching the top role of my Mama Bear discord server! Hope it's to your liking!

Cassie and William were at the coffee table in the living room of the lake house lazily building a house of cards while everyone else lazed about in their own way. Most of the kids were up in their own rooms playing or watching tv, but they decided to stay downstairs. Stephen was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Tony was dozing on the couch behind William with baby Lucy sleeping on his chest. One was drooling and the other was snoring softly, but it was nothing like the way Quill snored.

Cassie was still used to Tony's snoring though. He did raise her for five years, and the lake house was home for her. It held bittersweet memories and of course some fun ones as well. Like the time Tony was having a really good day and helped the girls plant the vegetable garden at the side of the house. He fortunately had quite a few good days, but the bad days still won over in quantity. Getting out of bed had been hard for him, so Cassie took it upon herself to make things easier for him. If Tony slept in, Cassie would go into his room and get Diana out of her crib (or her bed when she was older) and make her breakfast and take care of her until Tony was ready to face the day.

There had been a couple of days that were so bad he had stayed in bed all day. Fortunately those were days when Cassie was old enough to cook for them with the stove and Diana was easily occupied with her coloring books or the tv.

"Was this all ever too much for you?" William suddenly asks after placing a card on top of the ones that Cassie stacked against each other. The house continued to stand.  
"Hmm...no. I don't think so. When I was still living with my mom and Paxton, it was always quiet there. Then my dad became Ant-Man and things were more exciting...then we moved to the tower. I had a lot more fun there because there was always something going on. I can tell you that Mom has sighed exactly four hundred and sixty-seven times _before_ the snap." Cassie smiles.  
"You kept count?" William asks in surprise. "What's he at now?"  
"Oh, pfft. I don't know. With all of the Avengers and seven kids, he sighs so much that I lost count."  
Stephen sighs from the kitchen. "Cassie, please stop counting how often I sigh."

Both teens smile and the girl looks back at the house of cards and stacks another pair of cards. They work on the fragile structure in silence up until William slowly starts to place the last card they need to complete it. Before he even gets close, the table rattles from the force of a thump from upstairs and both of them sigh with exasperation when the cards go tumbling down onto the coffee table and some onto the floor around them.

"Ugh...I really should know better to do something like that when my parents are around." Cassie says and makes a face as she starts to clean up the cards.  
"Want to play a board game instead?" William asks and Cassie nods.  
"How about…" She gets up and walks over to the bookshelf stacked with board games. "Connect Four?"

William nods and Cassie grabs the game off of the shelf and takes it over to the coffee table and sits back down. While William puts the plastic pieces together, Cassie seperates the colored plastic coins and pushes one of the piles over to him. They play the game quietly, occasionally pulling the bottom to the side to let the coins clatter to the table to start another game, and Stephen eventually brings snacks over to them. Strawberries and cream for William, and Cheez-Its for Cassie each in their seperate bowls.

"Thanks Mom." William says softly and Stephen smiles and pats his head.  
"You're welcome."  
Cassie smiles. "Hey Will...you want to see something funny?"  
"What?"

She grins and leans closer to William to tap Tony's shoulder and he grunts and bats her hand away. He was definitely away though...just not completely and that was exactly where Cassie needed him. She had discovered this funny little tidbit while she lived here with him and Diana and every once in a while she would do this to get a laugh.

"Tony?" Cassie says softly.  
"Huh? What?" The engineer mumbles but keeps his eyes closed.  
"Mom wanted me to tell you that he's pregnant. With triplets."

Stephen chokes on the tea he was drinking from and looks at Cassie in bewilderment but she just smiles and holds her finger up.

"Tha's great." Tony mutters and waves at her. "Just tell him to keep them in for a couple of years."  
Stephen wipes his mouth. "I can't decide whether to be happy that he accepts that so easily or concerned. There are a few things wrong with that conversation." He shakes his head and sits on the other couch to watch tv as the teens go back to their game.  
"I'm surprised you're not trying to take Lucy." Cassie says and Stephen sighs heavily.  
"There has been a recent discovery that she is the biggest daddy's girl. I did all of the work and she wants _him_." He says the last part with an expression like he ate something sour and Cassie laughs.  
"It was bound to happen sooner or later. She's his Valerie."

Stephen snorts and turns his attention back to the tv, and after about half an hour, Friday alerts them that Valerie had woken up from her nap. William volunteers to go get her, and gets up and goes up to the master bedroom when Stephen nods, and he smiles when he sees the toddler sitting up in her crib and rubbing her eyes. When Valerie sees him approach the crib, she stands up and holds out her arms for him, yawning as William takes her out of her crib. 

"Have a good nap?"  
"Uh-huh."  
"Want to help me kick Cassie's butt in Connect Four and share my snack?" He smiles when she nods again and takes her down to the living room where he sits back down and sets Valerie in his lap. "I have a partner now." He grins to Cassie.  
"Well your partner is more interested in your snack right now." The other teen giggles.

Sure enough, Valerie was picking up one of William's strawberries and scooping up some whipped cream with it. He shrugs and they start a new game that the toddler watches quietly as she munches on her snack, until she points at a column with her other hand.

"There." She says.  
"Oh. Good eye." William praises as he drops his coin into the slot for the win and Cassie pouts.  
"She's too good at this game." She says and the beam that adorned Valerie's face had the teens and Stephen melting.

It wasn't even a lie either. Valerie knew how the game was played and knew how to win, and she had easily kicked her siblings butts without them letting her win. It was one game they could actually play with her and not have to stretch out to their planned loss because she was that good at it.

A hitch of breath draws William's and Cassie's attention, and Stephen lunges forward when he sees Tony's fingers curling toward his palm. His arm was acting up again and he hadn't even moved before he let out a pained gasp. 

"Oh… _god_. Someone...fuck... someone take Lulu." He winces and Cassie immediately crawls around the coffee table to take the infant.  
"Tony, try to relax." Stephen says gently as he uses his magic to try and help with the pain.  
"I'll go get Papa." Cassie says as she stands with Lucy held to her shoulder.

Stephen nods and Cassie heads up the stairs to get Quill, and William cleans up their game with Valerie's help. While Tony's episodes were rare, Valerie understood what was happening so seeing her father in pain didn't scare her as much as it used to. It still bothered her of course, but she knew Mommy and Uncle Quill would help him feel better, and so she usually went to play with one of her siblings whenever it happened.

"Can you help carry our snacks up to my room? We can watch a movie." William asks Valerie.  
"Yes." She says and picks up the bowl of strawberries with both hands and slowly climbs the stairs. 

William grabs the bowl of whipped cream and Cassie's Cheez-Its and follows Valerie, and they barely move out if the way fast enough when Quill comes tearing around the corner from his room and down the stairs. He shouts an apology over his shoulder at them as he joins Stephen at Tony's side, and William catches a glimpse of a white and blue light coming from the celestial's hands before turning the corner to go to his room. He finds Cassie standing in the middle of the hallway holding Lucy and he motions to his bedroom door with one of the bowls.

"We're going to watch a movie in my room. Wanna join?" He asks and Cassie nods, following the two as she gently rocks Lucy.

Thankfully the infant was in a good mood and not screaming about being taken away from Tony, but they both knew that wouldn't last long. The three get settled on William's bed and place the bowls in front of them so Valerie can get to the whipped cream.

"Friday? Turn on a Disney movie please? Surprise us." William asks.

His tv turns on and Sleeping Beauty pops up next and they watch it quietly until Stephen comes up about twenty minutes later.

"Is he okay?" Cassie asks.  
"He'll be fine. Just needs a few minutes." Stephen smiles. "I'll take Lucy now."  
"Sure." She says and hands Lucy over to him.  
"Valerie? Are you okay here with your brother and Cassie?" Stephen asks.  
"Uh-huh." The little girl nods and Stephen kisses the top of her head before leaving the bedroom.  
"You better eat those before my brother catches a whiff of them." William tells Cassie as he points to the bowl of crackers.  
"He can pry them from my cold, dead fingers." She says with a laugh as she picks up the bowl to eat her Cheez-Its.

Another twenty minutes of the movie pass in silence with the exception of crunching from Cassie and munching from Valerie and William.

"Hey...do you ever get tired of doing things?" William asks and stammers when Cassie looks at him in alarm. "I-I mean you help with Diana a lot and sometimes you help cook dinner for _everyone_ , and I know you do a lot for your parents."

Cassie shrugs. "Sure. Every once in a while. But I just tell my parents I need a day for myself and they either order takeout or Dad makes dinner. They take care of me and protect me and it's the least I can do." Cassie chews on another small handful of crackers before continuing. "I love spending time with Diana, but she knows that sometimes I need to spend time with people my own age and she understands that."

"I wonder if me and Thomas would even be here if you weren't so nice." William says quietly. "This family has been the best thing that ever happened to us and for once we don't have to hide our powers or who we are. I feel safe here...and I _want_ to call Stephen and Tony, Mom and Dad, because they feel like that to me. I don't want to lose any of this."

Cassie smiles and looks back at the tv. "I'm sure you've figured it out but you're stuck with us. Mom would have a conniption if you were unhappy in any way and he would do anything to fix that."  
"Yeah... we're definitely putting that together." William nods. "Dad too."  
"Pfft," Cassie snorts. "If anyone tried anything, he would sue them of everything they own. Even just for looking at you funny...but he's just extra like that."

William laughs and accepts the last strawberry that Valerie offers up to him and scoops up the rest of the whipped cream with it. A breeze blows against their faces a few seconds later and Cassie gasps when she finds the rest of her Cheez-Its gone and Thomas sitting on the bed and munching loudly.

"Hey!"  
"I could smell them from my room." He says around his mouthful and the other two teens make a face.  
"First, rude. You can just ask. Second, gross. Close your mouth." Cassie gripes.  
"Thomas! I told you not to run in the house!" Stephen calls from downstairs and Thomas's eyes widen.  
"How did he know?"  
"Mama knows everything." Valerie says and William and Cassie point at her.


End file.
